Ranger
Only three races are able to choose the life of a ranger. Humans, Half-elves and Elves are these lucky few. Humans Humans are the race to which all others are compared. Attribute wise, they have neither extreme strengths nor extreme weaknesses but their Max_stat notches are easy to obtain. Humans also do not get infravision, which can be of tremendous use throughout one's career. Humans start in Waterdeep, the city of splendor, which is an advantage as this is where all good races converge. Half-Elves Half-Elves enjoy the fruits of both their elven and human heritage. They have easy to reach stat notches, the best of which is a low 90's for constitution. They enjoy the same hit points as their human counterparts, although the ability to reach a Maximum_stat notch is crippled. Half-elves receive many of the elven advantages, notably the infravision innate and the ability to use elf-race restricted items. Some of those items are less effective in the hands of a half-elf, but still quite usable. Half-elves gain the option to start in Waterdeep or in Leuthilspar, and those starting in Leuthilspar must abide by the same level limitation full elves do (Level 20 before you can leave the island). Grey Elves Grey Elves are a reclusive race which live in the city of Leuthilspar on the island of Evermeet. They make fine rangers because of their agility and dexterity, but their strength and constitution are no match for that of their human or half-elven counterparts. Their high agility makes them more difficult to hit, but it does not make up for their fewer hitpoints. Although they occasionally get an extra attack because of their dexterity, their lower strength means that they cannot (dual) wield some of the heavier weapons. The only way to leave Leuthilspar to the mainland is through the Elf Gate. Not all elves can take this, as the strain requires them to be at least level 20. Because of this, they have to level up on Evermeet, often alone, which can sometimes be frustrating as most adventurers are near Waterdeep. Grey Elves get innate infravision. Grey Elves obtain the most benefit from some of the elf-race restricted gear, most notably the ranger scimitar known as Windsong, or a glittering elven scimitar. As one of Toril's many 'hybrid' classes, rangers gain the ability to use many skills but excel at few. What stats you should definitely aim to have high are: con and dex. Ultimately the important stats for a ranger are: Con/Dex/Str/Agi/Wis. Here are the purposes a ranger has for the stats. * Str: Governs damage caused. Also affects your carried weight which can affect your AC. * Dex: Governs hitroll and as best I can tell, your archery skill. Archery has become the staple skill of rangers, and it's well worth making sure your dexterity is up to par. * Agi: Governs armor class. Is also part of determining if you stay standing for some events, such as tailsweep, wingbuffet and earthquake. * Con: Governs your hit points. Hit points are the final say in how much damage you can receive. Depending on your race, a higher con might not be crucial, but it's always good to make your constitution the best you can. * Pow: Of absolutely no use to a ranger. * Int: Moderately useful to have, not crucial to a ranger though. * Wis: Rangers are divine spellcasters, and their memtimes are determined by wisdom. If you don't intend to cast much, or don't mind waiting a long time to regain your spells, this stat isn't crucial. * Cha: Not necessary for a ranger to have, it is useful for obtaining good prices in shops. All rangers must maintain a good alignment or lose access to their spells and abilities. Rangers gain several innate abilities. Here is the list. * Outdoor Sneak: When traveling through outdoor nature areas, many mobs and players will not be able to see you move. Sense life allows a person/mob a chance to detect the movement. Sneaking allows you to move, but once you are in a room it is possible for others to notice you. This innate is always active. * Speak with Plants: Useful to determine if you are indeed in a nature room. Some rooms would seem to be nature, but aren't really. This skill can be used as often as you wish, and there is a slight lag after each use. Useage: innate speak * Forage: Allows you to gather food from the nearby surroundings. The helpfiles on this innate aren't very clear, but basically this skill can be used almost anywhere that is not indoors. There are a few weird rooms about Waterdeep that it doesn't work as well, but generally you can get food. (Even in the City of Brass on Fireplane!) This skill is usable 2 times per day and has an amusing option of foods you can obtain. (Giant Grasshoppers!) Useage: forage * Woodcarving: Very handy for a ranger to have, although of limited use as your collection of equipment diversifies. Allows the ranger to carve a limited number of objects from wood in the area. The skill can only be used outdoors in correctly flagged rooms. Items available: torch, arrow, club, staff, spear, shield, quiver, box, canoe, bow. It can be used unlimited times in a day, and there is a lag associated with each use. Depending on the item you wish to carve, a greater lag is produced. (Arrows hardly lag at all, canoes lag a long time) Since this is an innate skill, the success of it is based on your level and thus some objects simply cannot be carved at low level (bows primarily). Useage: innate wood * Tame: This innate allows the ranger to tame a mount mob and convince it to follow them. Mounts can be used to help one move about the mud, although they tire quickly if ridden. Rangers receive limited ability with mounted combat, and they can be ridden into battle. This skill cannot be used on a mount currently owned by another person or mob, although not all mounts that are being ridden belong to their rider. Mounts cannot be used to fight for you. The success of this innate is based on your level and the level of the mount you are attempting to tame. Useage: inn tame 1st Level * Kick - this allows you to do some extra damage between combat rounds. Its damage seems to be proportionate to your level. Kicking will lag you for several rounds. Sometimes, very rarely, you will get a critical kick that does more damage. On rare occasions, a kick will briefly lag your opponent. * Bash - allows you to knock an emeny from his feet and to the ground (depending on his and your height and weight). Useful against spellcasters and switching (warrior) mobs. Rangers cannot excel at this skill but can use it in a pinch. * Rescue - allows you to jump in another player's place as target for the monster he is fighting. Lags both you and the person you rescue. Rangers cannot excel at this skill but can use it in a pinch. * Mount - allows you to ride horses. * Offense - allows you to fight better. Automatic skill. * 1h bludgeon, 1h slashing, 1h piercing, 1h misc, 2h slashing, 2h bludgeon, 2h misc - various weapon skills. They determine your proficiency with these weapon types. A low skill level means you will miss a lot, and fumble often! Automatic skill. * Range Specialist - helps your ability to hit your enemies using ranged weapons. Automatic skill. * Bandage - allows you to give first aid to players or mobs that are mortally wounded (between 0 and -10 hitpoints, or 0 and -100 if they have the death pact spell). Is also used to bandage people who have been struck with a magical effect causing constant bleeding. * Archery - Allows the ability to use missile weapons, like bows, in combat. Automatic skill. * Swimming - allows you to move about under water. Remember, you still need a boat to travel over water! Automatic skill. 5th Level * Trap - Currently this skill does nothing. * Defense - Allows you to tank multiple mobs better. Automatic skill. 10th Level * Blindfighting - allows you to hit your target even when blinded, or if it is invisible. Automatic skill. * Dual wield - allows you to wield two one-handed weapons. One of the prime skills of the Ranger. Automatic skill. * Spellcast Skills - These skills allow you to have increased effectiveness with spells in its class. A higher spellcast enchantment skill will make your enchantment classed spells more effective, etc. Automatic skill. * Sorcerous/Clerical Spell Knowledge - These skills give you a chance to recognize what spell is being cast out of its respective school - Sorcerous or Clerical. This skill often notches while somebody, even a mob, is casting a spell. * Quick Chant - Allows a chance to halve your casting time for any particular spell. Automatic skill. * Meditate - Gives the chance to halve the time required to repray a spell. Type this before praying, automatic at the half-way point of a spell. 12th Level * Dodge - allows you to step out of harm's way, avoiding blows to yourself. Automatic skill. 14th Level * Parry - allows you to deflect enemy blows. Automatic skill. 15th Level * Surprise - Unknown what exactly this skill does. I suspect it allows a ranger with aggressive togged on a better chance to engage an agro mob before it attacks a group member. Automatic skill at whatever it does. * Awareness - Dual use skill. Allows a chance at avoiding a rogue's backstab, and also allows a chance to detect sneaking mobs or players. Note that when teamed with the sense life spell, the effectiveness is increased. Automatic skill that can be activated, though without much additional effect. 20th Level * Double attack - allows you to get a second attack. Automatic skill. * Switch opponents - allows you to start hitting something else in the room. Your original target will still remain on you, targeting you! Lags you a lot if you fail. * Track - Allows the ability to have the mud decide a path to follow to a mob you specify. This skill can only be used on mobs that are within your current zone. Unless something is hindering your movement, YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY FOLLOW THE PATH chosen for you. This path does not consider aggressive mobs or locked doors, although you will automatically open doors that are not locked. * Mounted Combat - Allows a ranger the ability to fight while mounted. Rangers cannot get very skilled at this style of fighting, and while mounted you generally cannot pick up fumbled weapons. Recommend against using this. Automatic skill. 30th Level * Riposte - allows you to deflect your opponent's blow, and strike back at him. You need a successful parry in order for this to work. Automatic skill. * Missile Snare - Lets you snatch enemy arrows out of the air before they can cause any damage. Not too many places where this skill is used, but it's got so much style that it's something to brag about. Remember to practice your skills often, both by using them and training at your guildmaster. Some things such as bandage, mount and swimming are not worth practicing at your guild - notch them by using them. Rangers are clerical, or divine, spellcasters and as such pray for their spells. They need no spellbook, and never have to practice their spells. Many of the ranger spells are more effective, or can only be cast in, a nature or outdoors room. Use the speak with plants innate to determine if a room would be suitable for spells. 1st Circle * Detect magic - helps see active spells and ones that are soon to fade. Useful for seeing active protection spells. Keep many to lighten the load on other casters. * Vigorize light - not worth the time required to pray for it. * Shillelagh - can do some respectable damage in nature and at low levels, however loses its luster early. 2nd Circle * Goodberry - a very handy spell to have, it creates magical berries that weigh nothing and are worth about 1.5 iron rations. If it is eaten using the full name goodberry, it will also cast a cure light upon the eater. * Cure light - generally isn't worth the time required to pray for it as a Ranger. * Detect good - handy but not necessary most of the time. * Detect evil - handy but not necessary most of the time. * Sense life - a wonderful utility spell that can keep you alive by spotting hidden mobs. 3rd Circle * Detect invisibility - another very useful utility spell. Keep several ready to help ease the casting load of busier classes. * Faerie fire - makes it easier to hit mobs, and also prevents rogue classed mobs from hiding if they flee. * Sticks to snakes - a very strong damage spell when in nature, and you get more snakes as you level. * Vigorize serious - alright, but generally not used. * Bless - can be used to improve your hitroll and spellsave, as well as make holy water. Holy water will heal you a little bit when hurt, and deals with a small bit of hunger as well. 4th Circle * Cure serious - one of the staple healing spells of soloing Rangers. * Faerie fog - can be used to reveal hidden or invisible mobs/players. * Invisibility - handy for sneaking past creatures that don't have the ability to see through the enchantment. * Summon insects - a very tricky spell to use. It does a small (read: 1 point) amount of damage. The secondary effect of the spell will occasionally interrupt the mob from fighting you. This can often backfire if used incorrectly. The best place to utilize this spell is if you are fighting multiple low level mobs. Cast it upon the one that you are not actively fighting, and you can often remove them from the battle entirely. 5th Circle * Vigorize critical - a wonderful spell for traveling, often restoring between 30 and 70 movement points. * Protection from animals - a handy utility spell to allow the target to move past low level, aggressive animal mobs without having to fight them. 6th Circle * Barkskin - a staple spell of this class. It grants a good chunk of armor class, roughly 30 points though it varies by level. This AC boost stacks with a cleric's armor spell or mage's armor-equivalent. * Dust devil - causes some damage, and has a handy secondary effect of occasionally disarming the target. The disarm effect will not work if the mob has any sort of globe of invulnerability active. * Sleep - a useful utility spell for dealing with lower level aggressive mobs. Make sure your vicious is not on when you cast this spell - if it lands, the mob falls asleep and is generally out of your hair. If your vicious is on, you will hit the mob and wake them up from the sleep effect. Sometimes they will fall down and wake up when slept, and this means you may have to put them to sleep multiple times. Sleep will last for a moderate length of time, but unless something happens to wake the target up after the duration, they remain sleeping! I have put mobs to sleep that have slumbered on during 80 hour uptimes. 7th Circle * Dispel magic - can have many uses. However, with a Ranger's relatively weak spellcast skills and no focus, the best use of dispel magic is to dispel unwanted spells on oneself or one's allies. Examples are a fly spell when entering a no-fly area, or a silence person spell that is active upon one of your clerics. * Strength - can be useful for lightening your load or reaching a final strength notch. * Nature's blessing - a glorious spell. It grants at level 50 +3hit, -5 save vs. spells (lower is better) and a 25% reduction from all area spells. The spell casts very quickly, but does not stack with a bless spell. Keep this spell active all the time to greatly improve your survivablility. 8th Circle * Minor paralysis - a spell similar to sleep, except that the mob will be able to act once the spell duration ends. Again, useful for handling small aggressive mobs so long as they aren't attacking you. Even with vicious off, I have found that frequently you will still strike the target after the spell lands, breaking the spell. * Cure critic - the best healing spell a Ranger will get. It has a long cast time but heals around 30-35 hps. 9th Circle * Call lightning - our token area spell. Unfortunately, it generally is very weak and hardly worth casting. * Transport via plants - a very useful utility spell in a nature zone. You cast it once to fix your location, then you can cast it again anywhere within the same zone, outside in nature and you will be transported back to the place where you first cast the spell. A very useful escape tool and handy for luring as well. 10th Circle * Pass without trace - prevents mobs from tracking you, if you've fought with them already and had to retreat. The spell can only be cast in a nature room, and lasts for roughly two and a half minutes. It also does not prevent mobs from dealing with you magically, either by casting dimension door to you or summoning you. * Control weather - allows you to modify the weather of an area briefly. The best use for this is if you want to try to make things more favorable for your environment based spells - dust devil and call lightning. The purpose of a Ranger is myriad: cause damage to the enemy, lure a tracking mob, track a mob within a zone, rescue and tank a mob in a pinch. Sometimes even serve as a backup, or on occasion, primary basher. Rangers have a limited assortment of spells to aid the group as well, although virtually nothing is unique. In order to be a good Ranger, there are many things you need to remember: * Your armor class affects how easily or how hard you will be hit, as well as your chance to take less damage from a blow. Therefore, try to always attain -100. This can be achieved through both the armor one wears and spells. If you cannot reach this, ask the cleric/shaman to armor you and keep barkskin active. Do not carry too much, or your armor class will be affected by it in a negative way. * The primary purpose a Ranger when asked to go zoning is to add damage and luring. In order to cause damage in a group, your equipment must enhance your damage output. A good damage roll is excellent, but you will need to make sure that you have a sufficient +hit bonus to cause the damage. Spells such as bless or later nature's blessing will increase your chance to hit with melee weapons. * A Ranger's primary damage source is archery. A Ranger requires a much lower +hit bonus in order to hit with arrows, but the archery ability is more focused upon stats and skills. It is important to practice your archery skill, as having a low skill will often result in misfired arrows that can hit other mobs. Ironically, sometimes the ability to hit mobs from outside of the room is WHY a Ranger is brought along with a group, but that is only when the leader asks for the tagging. * Rangers receive some tanking abilities - rescue, parry, dodge and riposte. These skills can reach decent levels although never will compare with a warrior, paladin or anti-paladin. This having been said, while a ranger receives the skills to tank we do not excel at it. When zoning, I will often set up to rescue casters and rogues, hoping that the other tanks will succeed before me. With the proper active spells, a Ranger can and does make a very feasible tank. But without a low armor class, and without a good array of tanking spells, a Ranger will quickly fall before a strong opponent. * At level 31 rangers get a unique spell, Nature's Blessing. That spell is a lifesaver for rangers. It will not stack with the bless spell, but will grant you some hitroll, some spellsave and a percentage deduction from all area spells. Keep it active during every zone. * Rangers receive detect invis and detect magic spells. Use them to aid the group and take the burden off of other, busier classes. * Arrows can and often do break. If you are going zoning, make sure you have a suitable supply if you intend to use archery during your journey. Often two or three quivers are required for an extended trip. * You will sometimes be called upon to bash something. Obtain a good heavy shield to help your chances at bashing. With a good shield and some decent practice at the skill, a ranger can be a very reliable basher. Your most important skills are Luring, Arching, and Backup Tanking. Sometimes the group leader will ask you to lure a mob. This generally means shoot at it from outside of the room. If you are worried about misfires, have a quiver that only has a single arrow in it. Use this quiver whenever you lure. The syntax to lure a mob is: fire As mentioned previously, archery is one of the primary skills of a ranger. It can do tremendous damage, and can carry some risk as well. Arrows that miss can hit other mobs in the room, and sometimes fly out of the room and hit other mobs there. The best way to become good at archery is, naturally, to practice the skill. Expect to, at low levels, have arrows flying willy-nilly all about you. Be prepared to deal with a mob that has been shot by you on accident. They will remember that you shot them, and try to attack you if they see you. Arrows can often travel up to three rooms away. In order to use archery, there are two commands available. Fire and Afire. Fire will shoot a single volley of arrows at the target. A volley can consist of 1 to 3 arrows at a time. Fire is also used to target mobs in adjacent rooms. Afire is autofire. It is used to target a single mob and shoot arrows repeatedly until the mob is dead, you run out of arrows, or are engaged in melee. You can choose to afire to autofire at the mob that another player is currently fighting. It is a form of assisting. In the autofire mode, you can have a combat display show tank and enemy conditions; this feature is not available if you use the fire command. If you hit a mob with an arrow, the arrow is placed into that mob's inventory. This holds true with misfires that hit player pets, such as elementals and horses. If a misfire hits a player, the arrow will land on the ground. It is not possible to cause damage to a player this way. If an arrow misfires and flies out of the room, it will fly as far as it can, until it hits a wall, a target (mob or player) and travels for 3 rooms. Provided it doesn't hit a mob, the arrow will be on the ground where its flight stops. Missile shield is the bane of rangers who use archery. It is a spell that blocks arrows from striking the person it protects. In addition, hitting a missile shield is akin to shooting your arrows at a wall, so there is a higher chance they will break. Any arrow that does not pierce a missile shield lands on the ground. You can tell if a mob has missile shield active if you see "An opaque magical shield surrounds ..." Missile shield will completely block arrows with no hitroll bonus, and slow down/reduce the damage of arrows that have a hitroll bonus. A +3 arrow is slowed by 25%, for instance. There are a few ways to deal with an enemy missile shield spell: # Wait for it to drop. Not always a feasible plan, but you can switch to melee and fight. Glance at the mob regularly and when the spell is gone, disengage and commence archery. # Dispel it. This usually does not work, as most mobs with missile shield active are higher level casters than you, which makes dispelling difficult. Often you'll only dispel friendly spells that are active, and make the group grouchy. :P # Have an elementalist thunderblast it. Only feasible if the mob doesn't have globe active I've been told. # Use +3 to hit or greater arrows. Arrows of this magnitude have an actual chance to sunder an enemy missile shield while still passing through it and causing some damage. To loot your arrows at the end of a fight, type collect. It will gather up all of your arrows in the room - ones on corpses, in inventory, and on the floor, and place them back into your quiver, or fill the quiver and then fill your inventory if there is insufficient room. Collect will only gather your arrows, so you don't need to sort out between rangers who's arrows belong to whom. Most quivers have enough room to hold 100 arrows. Collect will not gather broken arrows. I suggest, if you see misfires hitting pets, that you request all pet owners to order their followers to drop all. Then you can collect the wayward arrows. Broken arrows can be repaired if you wish. Unless you begin using very expensive arrows (mine cost 50 platinum each), repairing is not a feasible option. Archery cannot be used at the same time as melee. If a mob hits you in any way, you will be knocked out of the archery mode and into melee. This means you will proceed to try to bean your enemy with your bow. You cannot re-enter archery mode without disengaging/fleeing from combat and then recommencing autofire. I have had my archery interrupted by a mob's kick or bash, although occasionally when switched to a warrior rescues me before the MUD realizes I'm in melee. Thanks guys :). An often overlooked ability of a Ranger is to serve as a backup tank. We receive the rescue, parry, dodge and riposte skills to help in that regard. Our dual-wielding allows us to do some decent damage, often landing 6 hits in a round, 7 if you are a grey elf. Rather than detail the nuances of tanking well, I will offer just three pieces of advice. * Practice your melee skills, both offensive and defensive. * Read Cherzra's Warrior Guide. It talks about rescuing and bashing in more depth than I want to describe, but it is generally pretty accurate about the do's and don'ts. * If you think you may need to serve as a backup tank, make sure you get all the helping spells you can. Spells such as displace, blur, stone/dragonscales, vit can let you last. If you have any doubts, I have tag-team tanked a fight with 5 level 59 warriors with a fellow level 50 ranger and some excellent spellcaster backup. Practice your skills, and then practice them again! Rescue, bash and defensive skills are pivotal to both you and your group's survival. There are places where you can fight lots of low level mobs for a long time, which helps greatly in advancing your skills - ask around when you are level 40ish, as this is the level around which you will start zoning and your skills need to be good. Hitpoint gear is good, but secondary to hit and damage for us. We are brought to do damage, and with a vit spell and nature's blessing we generally don't have to worry as much about hit points. That said, it is often a very good idea to obtain some gear that has +hitpoints to give you a boost for hard fights, for a dead ranger does no damage at all! If you like micromanagement, it is even possible to wear the hitpoint gear until just before a fight, and then remove it in favor of your hit/dam equipment. The hitpoint bonus will stay with you mostly, although it does slowly bleed off. But it does provide a buffer amount of damage you can absorb. Keep Nature's Blessing active at all times. I have said this several times before, and it cannot be stressed enough. This spell will save your life. Remove your weapon if you are tanking a fire/ice shielded mob and do not have the globe of invulnerability spell. You only need to remove your primary weapon to stop using a weapon. Fire/cold shield does damage back to you in proportion to the damage you caused to the mob. Since mobs often have much much more hitpoints than any player, it is easy to quickly kill yourself by hitting a shield. I recommend using a trigger to remove the weapon just to be safe. Carry around armor potions, as they help when soloing, especially at lower levels. Remember that armor stacks with your barkskin, for a benefit of around -50 to your AC! Remove weapons that don't float when fighting over water. If in doubt, drop a copper coin to check. If you can obtain a weapon that is no-drop (cursed) you don't need to worry about this. If you have a weapon cursed, the damage it causes will be reduced. Removing the curse does not reverse this effect! Have a heavy shield for bashing, it generally will do the work if you are asked to backup bash in a zone. Wimpy is good when soloing, but always turn it off in zones unless ordered otherwise. Kick is an underrated skill. It can do a good amount of damage, and I use it often. When soloing, it can be used to possibly briefly lag a mob. And hell, it's not like we've got anything else to do in a fight, unless you feel you need to be ready to rescue somebody. It is smart to have different weapons that do different things. As a newbie, you will only have one or two, but as you get higher level you will obtain other proccing weapons. For example, I use a sword that blinds the enemy but has low damage dice. When it has procced blind (and served its purpose), I remove it and wield another one that has better damage dice, and a more impressive proc. Wear spellsave when fighting casting mobs, and breathsave when fighting dragons. Do not fight dragons without all prots on, either from a spell or from equipment! You need an active detect magic spell to determine what prots are active.